Sad, crushed, devastated really

**Please excuse the interlude between NYC posts**

Over dramatic? Maybe. So not a big deal to 99% of the world? Definitely. Still upsetting to me? Abso-freakin-lutely!

I cannot tell you how excited I was and the squeal of joy that came from me when I received these in the mail. These are my tickets to Opening Day for the Texas Rangers in my favorite seats.

Pure bliss! I so look forward to the perfection that is that warm spring day. The feeling of awe when I come around the tree covered corner and see the greatness that is the Ballpark in Arlington just makes me smile. It is so American to me. The smell of cotton candy, the endless chorus of beeps that scan your ticket, the crunch of peanut shells under my feet, and the barkers selling my favorite food in the world…the $4.00 hot dog. The singing of the National Anthem, military fly-over, unveiling of the American flag that covers the outfield, and the reading of the starting line-up let me know that spring is here. The “at bat” songs, the solid crack of a hit, the masterful double plays, home runs, and pitching (God, how I hope we have some this year) put a song in my heart. It was recently announced that GWB would be throwing out the first pitch. He is the former owner after all, good friends with the current owner, and has a schedule seems to have cleared up recently.

Photo from sidehike

I had planned to take a day off of work. I would drive a few hours to the Ballpark, enjoy the game with a friend, and be home late…just in time to catch a few winks before going to work the next day. This would be my one and only day off in 10 months. So I ask a coworker how to go about taking a personal day, given I have not missed a day of work since I took this new gig. She looked at me funny and told me “people do not do that here”. This was not a fact that had been unnoticed by me. Not one other person near my office has missed a day unless they were grossly sick or on professional business. After much discussion, it was advised that I not do it.

CRUSHED!! Seriously, I am expecting tears on Monday as I watch the festivities online. AHHH! I hate it! Why even give us personal days if we feel like we have to dance around using them? I blame the economy. This would not be as big of a deal if people were not in fear for their jobs. Now I just hope I can get some of my $150 back by selling the tickets, and begin to look forward to plenty of games in the summer.

I know 100% of you (okay, maybe not Julie) could care less about this issue, but I have been looking forward to it since October. Ironed my jersey this past weekend even. Oh well. There is always next year’s Opening Day, right? Thanks for letting me vent.

How did the Muppets do it?

It has been a while since I saw the movie, but "taking Manhattan" looked so much easier when they did it. Maybe because Nanny was not there with me, maybe because I did not run into Liza Minnelli to ask for help, maybe because the Muppets went when they were in college and well, I am a little older than “college”.

NYC is an interesting place. Call me Captain Obvious! I think the make up of my trip made me realize a bit of the scope that the city has to offer. You see…Mom, Sis, Bea and I went to celebrate Mom’s big birthday. My days consisted of toys, toys, and more toys!  We hit the major "kid friendly" tourist locations like Toys R Us, FAO Shwartz, Central Park, Rockefeller’s ice rink, Top of the Rock, Magnolia Bakery, NBC and ABC studios, all that is Times Square (M&Ms, Hershey, NYPD, pretzels, hot dogs, cheap shirts), and of course the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Did you know that is like a 7 hour-long parade?! Pictures were being taken all along the way. There were lots of other stops, but this is just the first two days.

At night I met up with friends. Actually, the first night I hit the sheets. I had been up for 20 hours straight…remember…not in college anymore! Other nights consisted of running into the Chrestes on the edge of Times Square.  Seriously!  We talked about meeting up, but never made a set plan.  (My apologies to the Mr.)  After their original pick for dinner was being bombarded by cops, it was St. Pat’s after all, I find them moseying toward Times.  It was great to see and hang out with Julie, the Mr., and the Young 'un.  What?  Is it a big deal that we had to fly to NYC to hang out despite the fact that we live a couple of hours away from each other in TX? Eh…I would do it again. Maybe June? On the west coast?

The other nights I met up with “locals” on the lower side of town. That is a whole other post. Again, the juxtaposition of the city is amazing to me. And it is exhausting to be a tourist all day and a local at night! I have to say that I am so glad my first trip was with family and especially with a little one. I now have all of the cheesy, tourist stuff out of the way.  I knew I always wanted to see those spots, but would have never made a friend drag me around to visit them all. Plus, those three girls can walk! Man, you would think that Mom and her arthritis or Bea and her lack of supportive shoes would have called it quits, but no! Those gals could lap me in a 10k…easy.

In Sis’s defense, the shoe issue was not her fault as Bea’s mom. The little one was hell bent and determined to sport her fake kiddie Uggs all through the city. Needless to say they are so gross now! Please, Sis, retire them. I hear there is a garage sale coming up, or just trash day.

Will post more later.

Wordless Wednesday

I swear I went.  Post to come later this week.  In the meantime...

Girls gone wild

I have decided to get away for a couple of days.  Usually I do not go on the "girls trip", but this year I am doing it!  We are heading to the Big Apple for St. Patrick's Day and Mom's birthday.  I will also be catching up with an old friend from high school and another from college.  Should be interesting, and I know there will be lots of stories to tell, so until whenever...

St. Patty's Fun

Well, the festivities have begun.  Out local parade pretty much goes down my street about an hour after the 5K revelers pass.  I am heading up north to watch the Liverpool vs. Man U game in hopes to return to catch some of the parade, and then head to see Ash in the chaos that is her work...a bar in the heart of it all.  A concert starts in the early afternoon, and the night is capped off by relaxing, hydrating, and watching Will Ferrell's HBO special.  Just for fun, the video everyone pulls out at this time of year.  The amateur sketch gets me every time!



May everyone have a great St. Patrick's Day! Slàinte!

Holy giveaways, Batman!!

Alrighty, so it is the big Spring Fling over at SITS today.  For those of you that are new, SITS is a little blog spot that introduces a new blogger to their community every weekday.  They vary quite a bit and it is great to open it up every morning and see a new random person with fun stories!  I will admit, there are days and sometimes weeks that I am a really crappy SITSta, but I am trying.  To be honest, these past two weeks have been rough and I needed a break from technology.

Anyway, among the almost 400 giveaways today, one asked to post your top 10 posts.  I did not think I would have 10, but since 2007, I found some that will shed some light on "me".  Reading back through them I realized that some days my life has really changed and others not at all.  Anywho, here are a few that stood out in my head...

Yes, I am this crazy person,

My dog is crazy too,

And I am thinking I really should stop Black Friday shopping.

Remember when I had a crappy job as a teacher,

And always felt like this?

This is for those teachers left behind.  (Because it is quickly approaching!)

Why I love my great state.

Just a normal night out in my town.

And a meme or two for good measure.

So there you have it, 10 posts to get to know me and hopefully help me win something! ;)

Benefits, birthdays, and booze

Saturday, I went to a benefit filled with all the food you could imagine; canapés, appetizers, entrees, desserts as far as the eye could see. There were lovely things to wash it down; appletinis, cosmos, beer, wine, cola, and funky colored drinks I could only image about. There was gambling, big screens, fashion shows, weird stilt walking entertainers, DJs, live music, and of course live and silent auctions and raffles. I mean it is a benefit after all. Evidently the economy has affected more people more than I think. In previous years, people have fought over items. Literally tried to hide the sheets and become very protective of their bidding sticker. Well, I wish someone had told me that!

Ah, the trouble one little sticker can get me into these days. I had promised some people that I would bid on something, so my first 20 minutes there, I slap my sticker down on the sheet. Well, THREE HOURS later, it was still the highest bid! Damn it! It is not something I would have ever spent my money on, it is not tangible, and I never thought I would win. But, I did. Now it is mine. Oh well, it is tax deductable, and it will be nice to see the people that benefit from it enjoy it.

Sadly, I did not win the opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a Ranger game of my pick, or the tickets to the Red Sox/Yankees series (every game!), or the 8 rounds of golf at Pinehurst, or the first class trip to the Ryder Cup. Next year.

Off to Bridge’s birthday party!! This is a whole other beast. She decided to throw her party at quite possibly the shadiest place known to man. For anyone that does not believe America to be a melting pot needs to go to this place. There were all kinds! Some I could never explain, and question whether or not I want to. To top it off, that liquid encouragement gets all the odd ones to do karaoke. So strange, yet so fun! All the while I am thinking how crazy it is that I have gone from this high-falutin’ auction to this honky-tonk/booty droppin’/serenade in a matter of 15-minutes.

Every bit of it was a blast. It was also great to hang out with my buddy Scott. He needed a night out and happens to fit in great at both auctions and shady bars. Maybe next year we can do it on a weekend other than day light savings!

The best laid plans

Honestly, with me, the plans are never laid very well. I am far more spontaneous than scheduled. About midweek last week, when I had mistaken the day for Friday yet again, I decided that I needed to get out of the city. I figured I would pop over to Austin for a much-needed visit with a few girlfriends and hang out with J for her birthday. After working too late Friday, I opt to go down Saturday after the rounds of opening little league games.

Boy, am I glad I called first. One friend is preggo and still in that “my body is adjusting to the lack of alcohol/caffeine, why am I so freaking tired, and seriously! can I stop crying for like 12 hours?!” stage. She was not up for the visit, then she was, then she was not, then she was again, and I rescheduled for mid-second trimester.

Then we have J whose young ‘un sadly got the “fake flu” from the petri dish known as 3rd grade. Poor guy! No puking, but body aches and the sheer frustration of constantly being told to “rest” by his doc and mother. I do not know which is worse for a 9 year old. I decided not to tempt him with a Wii champion in the house. We will reschedule with a trip to Canton or NYC or Seattle. (Love ya, CL!)

Again, so glad I called! I am done with drives to Austin for 15 minutes and then coming back.

So…what to do, what to do?

After the basic laundry, cleaning, dishes and junk, I visit Bro at the restaurant on my way to pick out a little sister for Cooper. She told me she wanted one for her birthday. ;) We found a little corgi who immediately sat on my lap and dealt with Coop’s skit-so self really well. But alas, a young couple was lurking to the side and I sadly handed over Sissy, the aptly named Corgi. Tear.

The highlight of the weekend was Saturday night when I went and had dinner with a bunch of incredibly talented, witty, and fun folks. It made me feel so adult yet it felt like a dinner with old high school pals. It was great to meet and hang out with yall!! Hopefully we can do it again sometime.

Work has been CRAZY, but hopefully I will get to posting again soon. It does help to see that most everyone else in the blog world took a hiatus for the last week in February too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JULIE!!  I am so glad that I randomly ran into a cute boy that randomly worked at the Mr.'s school and made me want to randomly google you just weeks after you started a blog so it would randomly pop up 5th in my search.  Ah...the blogosphere...bringing old friends back together and making new ones.  I am so sorry about your car being broken into on your birthday.  STINKER!  I hope that you have a better weekend and get a chance to celebrate with those awesome men in your life.  Thanks for always being a phone call away and always making me laugh with your dry wit and solution to all...wine.  Here is to your 29th year again.